


Pancakes

by Kattwyllie



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Angst, Explicit Language, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Gun Violence, Hostage Situations, Minor Injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:35:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28001025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kattwyllie/pseuds/Kattwyllie
Relationships: Rita Calhoun/Reader
Kudos: 21





	Pancakes

“Mmmm…” you hummed in appreciation at the feeling of Rita’s lips trailing a pattern across your bare shoulder, “morning.” You greeted rolling over to face her.

“Good morning.” She smiled brightly at you, snuggling you closer to her so she could meet your lips with a kiss. Your lips moved leisurely against hers, appreciating the warmth of her body next to you, a soft hand stroking loose hair off your face, cupping your cheek, pulling you impossibly close to her. She kissed the tip of your nose before you curled around her, tucking against her shoulder your arms wrapping around each other. 

“I love you.” You murmured, kissing her neck softly.

“I love you too.” She replied, lips meeting the top of your hair, “I was thinking I’d take you for brunch later on?”

“Mmm…you’re too good to me.” She chuckled lightly, a hand moving up to lightly scratch at your head.

“Just treating you like the princess you are.” You snorted at that, “how about Sarabeth’s? I know how much you love their lemon ricotta pancakes.”

“Sounds absolutely perfect.”

You laid curled in each other’s arms, relishing in the warmth of the bed, the way the sun began to peak in through the curtains, rays streaming through the room. It wasn’t often your days off lined up, and even less often did you have time to simply just appreciate each other in the mornings, there was no way you were about to let this go to waste. It was only at the beeping from the kitchen, the scent of fresh coffee wafting through the house that you slowly moved away from each other. You’d tugged on a borrowed sweatshirt, grabbing a fresh pair of underwear from your bag, you were about to pad out of the room after Rita when your phone pinged, multiple times. Saying a silent prayer you picked it up, noticing the way Rita paused in the doorway.

“Fuck…” you muttered.

“I knew it was too good to be true.” The brunette sighed, crossing the room to your side, kissing your cheek softly, “we’ll do brunch next weekend.”

“It wasn’t about brunch..it was about _actually_ getting to spend time with you.”

“I know.” She kissed you gently, stroking at your cheek, “new case?”

“No..Carisi called in sick, Liv needs me to cover him. We’ve gotta start on the Peterson case.” You tugged off the sweatshirt, clasping your bra on.

“He’s out on bail by the way.” 

“He could afford the mill?” She smirked in response and you rolled your eyes with a huff of a laugh, “you got the judge to lower it. You’re too good at your job sometimes.” You pursed your lips as you looked down at the pile of clothes sitting on the chair that had become your closet, “Do you have anything not designer? I don’t have a spare work shirt.”

“I trust you with my designer stuff darling.” She pecked your cheek, moving over to the closet.

“I’m a cop Rita, there’s a 90% chance by the end of the day there’ll be dirt, blood, puke, or baby spit up on it.” Her nose crinkled as she handed you a tank top blouse. “Thanks.” 

Heading into the ensuite you took a the time to get ready while Rita headed out to the kitchen. Once you deemed you were presentable enough for last minute call in day that would probably be all paperwork you clipped your gun and badge onto your belt, emerging in the kitchen. Rita had a to go cup of coffee ready and waiting for you, made perfectly to your liking. You gave her a soft kiss and a ‘thank you’ letting her arms wrap around you for a moment.

“I love you.” Her voice was quiet, the tone she reserved for only you, adoration pouring from her eyes to yours.

“I love you too.” You gave her a chaste kiss before pulling on your blazer and making your way to the door.

“Stay safe out there.” Shooting her a playfull salute, you slipped through the door disappeared onto the streets of the city.

You knew that your relationship was slightly unconventional, there were still people who thought two women didn’t belong together, there were many more that would use the age gap against you. And let’s not get started on how many people (specifically your boss..) who simply wouldn’t understand a detective and a defence attorney dating. Which is exactly why _no one_ knew. Okay..you had a inkling that Barba knew, whether Rita had told him or he’d figured it out you weren’t sure, and you didn’t care enough to ask.

Neither of you could really pinpoint the moment it all started either, you’d always gotten along enough all things considered. You appreciated her style, her ferocity in the courtroom, she commended your commitment to your job, digging deeper than anyone else to get proper justice for the victims. Hell you were the one who happened to find a couple of very important pieces of evidence mid trial that put the nail in the coffin for her client, prompting her to make a deal she really hadn’t wanted to make. It would seem that an offer for a drink in apology after destroying her case was really where it began, but you both knew there had been an underlying flirtation going on for a while. 

The two of you kept to places you wouldn’t run into anyone else from the squad or the D.A’s office, and if you ever did run into anyone, your PDA was always limited, making it seem like you were just two unlikely friends out for lunch. The months flew by and before you knew it you were spending most of your free time at her apartment and I love you’s were exchanged while you snuggled into the warmth of each other.

*

“How’s it looking?” Benson paused briefly at your and Amanda’s conjoined desks.

“It’s…a lot..” you replied, “these girls are pretty young, prepping them for the stand is gonna be tough. But we’ve got a good amount of evidence to back it up.”

“At least the prick’s locked up in the meantime.” The blonde cut in, scribbling on a legal pad while she sorted things out.

“Nah, he made bail.” Your eyes hadn’t moved from the computer screen in front of you but you were suddenly aware of two other sets on you.

“There’s no way Peterson could afford a million.” Oliva scoffed. You shrugged,

“Calhoun must’ve convinced the judge to lower it.”

“Jesus.” Liv muttered, shaking her head in annoyance, “Rollins, why don’t you head out into the field, start talking to the girls, see which ones are gonna be better on the stand. Whitlow, keep digging and uncrossing wires here.”

“‘Course Cap.” You both gave her a nod before she retreated back to her office. Amanda grabbed her coat, moving the files from her desk to yours as she made her way out of the squad room. 

You gave out a light sigh, leaning back in your chair to take a moment to stretch. Liv’s orders left you alone in the bullpen, Fin and Dodds were out chasing leads on another case, it was no wonder she’d called you in, she needed bodies. You spent the next hour or so working through Peterson’s case files until your desk phone rang, a brief conversation later and you were knocking on the edge of Liv’s office door.

“Hey, Mrs Henderson reported seeing who she _thinks_ was Peterson going into his townhouse with a young girl, I’m gonna go check it out.”

“You sure?”

“Liv…you took Henderson’s original witness statement with me, she’s one of those nosy, head of the neighbour hood watch types… _with cataracts_ …she probably wasn’t even looking at the right house.” Olivia sighed, knowing you were right, and someone needed to hold down the fort until the rest of the squad got back.

“Okay. Keep me posted.”

“I will. And I’ll call if I need back up.”

*  
Arriving at the scene, you had your phone in your hand, open to the text conversation with Olivia as you jogged up the stairs to the front door. When you knocked, announcing yourself, you realized the door hadn’t even been fully closed. Your hand swiftly typed off a _‘311’_ to Liv, you didn’t necessarily need back up, but something was definitely not as it should be. Placing the phone back in your pocket your hands moved to your gun as you stepped over the threshold of the house.

“Mr Peterson?! It’s NYPD. Is everything alright?” Walking slowly your eyes scanned the home office, aside from the completely shut blinds darkening the place, everything seemed to be normal enough. “Mr. Peterson? It’s Detective Whitlow…I just wanna talk.” Keeping an eye on the upper level as you stepped across the hall, squinting through the dark living room you heard a soft whimper, your eyes darting to the corner. The girl couldn’t have been more than six, her hands were zip tied and she seemed too terrified to move, duct tape covering her mouth. “It’s okay sweetheart…I’m a police officer, I’m here to help you.” You almost missed the flash of her eyes widening and you knew in that second that you were fucked. Before you could fully turn around you felt the cold blade of a knife pressed to your throat, dangerously close to your carotid artery.

“Give me the gun…slowly..” Peterson’s voice husked from behind you. You held one hand up in submission, the other slowly moving the gun toward him, barrel facing the floor, finger off the trigger. His hand darted out, snatching it from your grip, you let out a breath of relief as the knife moved off your neck. His hand shoved you into the living room toward the girl, keeping your hands up and keeping your distance you turned to face the man.

“I’m just here to talk..”

“I was told to not talk to any cops without my lawyer present.”

“You’re more than welcome to call her.” As much as you didn’t want Rita _anywhere_ near this, you knew it would at least buy you some time, praying that Benson would get there quickly. “But how about we let this little girl go…pretend none of this ever happened? Your lawyer doesn’t need to know, I’m not saying a word.”

“Why should I believe you?”

“All I care about is getting her out of here safely, you don’t need her if you’ve got me. I’ll stay til your lawyer shows up and we can have a little chat. I’ll say I came by to check on a tip we got, that you refused to talk to me alone. That’s it. End of story.” He seemed to be contemplating it for a minute, but that hadn’t stopped him from keeping the gun trained on you.

“Give me your phone.” He gruffed, you slowly took it out of your pocket, extending it towards him. He tossed it onto the coffee table, “you got a radio?”

“It’s in the car.” He gave you a look of disbelief, “hey, look, does it really look like I have enough pocket space to have anything else on me?”

“Don’t get sassy with me!!” He lunged toward you with rage in his eyes and you heard the gun cock. Jumping back away from him you heard the girl’s muffled yell, doing your best to keep your body between the two of them.

“I’m sorry.” 

Peterson shot you a death glare, keeping his gaze half on you, the gun pointed directly at your chest while his other hand pulled his phone out of his pocket. He had a brief conversation, sounding much more pleasant over the phone than he had been with you. While he was at least semi distracted your eyes searched the house, trying to figure out if you’d be able to get out with the girl, what your best strategy was. Also trying to figure out if Liv would be able to figure out to _not_ come in when she got there, and if ESU would be able to get a visual. You knew where this was headed, and you didn’t like it one bit.  
*

“What the _hell_ is going on here?!” Rita’s voice rang through the street, Benson’s head swivelling to face her. The street was barricaded on one end, cops directing traffic at the other, two unmarked cars were parked outside Peterson’s townhouse, a handful of marked uni’s cars throughout the street. The entire area was swimming with cops and she could hear talkings of ESU being en route.

“What’s _going on_ is your client decided to take a great use of his bail and kidnap another little girl, and now I’ve got one of my guys in there _unarmed_ being held hostage along with her!” Olivia was right up in her face over the matter, though technically, if Rita hadn’t gotten the bail lowered, he’d probably still be in Rikers.

“What do you mean one of your guys is unarmed?!” Rita knew the Captain held some level of disdain for her, and wasn’t afraid to bite back.

“Well Whitlow wouldn’t have just given up her gun _for fun!”_

Rita felt the colour draining from her face, her heart beginning to hammer at the thought of you trapped inside with no way to get to you. She could feel the bile building up in her throat, her stomach a sudden pit of very tight knots, her voice coming out with a tremor laced within it.

“What?”

“Oh what? You’re so worried _now?_ That you know your case is in the toilet Counsellor?!” Olivia shot back, “what’re you even doing here?” The other woman stalled for a second, swallowing down a shuddering breath.

“Peterson called, said he needed to talk.” They were suddenly cut off by someone from hostage task force.

“Captain, we can’t get through on the landline, I think it’s time to try your Detective.”

*  
You felt like your heart was going a mile a minute, it seemed every second that went by everything truly was getting worse. The longer time went on, the more agitated and finicky Peterson got, he’d taken to pacing through the living room, muttering to himself, yelling whenever you started to speak or the girl’s cries increased. You jumped when your phone started to blare through the room, vibrating on the table between you.

“Who’s calling?!”

“My Captain…you’re going to have to let me answer it.” You replied calmly, attempting to keep your voice from shaking, “they’re going to try to make a deal with you. Hand over the girl and you’ll get what you want.” Glaring at you, he picked up the phone, sliding it open and throwing it on speaker.

“Whitlow?” Olivia’s voice rang through the room, “you okay?”

“I’m fine.” You answered, “we’re all fine. We just want to talk.”

“I said I’m not talking without my lawyer!” Peterson’s voice was getting angrier with every word. 

“I’m here John.” You nearly shook at the sound of her voice coming through the speaker. Knowing that maybe, just maybe if you didn’t make it out of here, at least her voice was one of the last things you would hear.

“She comes in and I’ll talk.” He replied.

*  
Olivia’s hand hit the microphone mute button faster than Rita could open her mouth, eyes shooting to the head of the hostage unit, keeping a careful ear on any amount of conversation or chatter that was still coming from your side of the call.

“You are _not_ going in that house.”

“You heard him! He won’t talk unless I’m inside!”

“And then I’m stuck with two civilians inside, and Whitlow’s stuck trying to cover both of you, _like hell_ I’m letting that happen!”

“Once I’m in I can convince him to let the kid go!”

“If anyone’s going in it’s going to be a cop, in a vest, who’s _trained_ for situations like this!”

The two women were so busy bickering over it they’d lost concentration on the phone call, a sudden outburst of ‘ _SHUT UP!_ ’ shooting through the speaker from Peterson countered by a _‘NO!’_ in your strangled voice followed by a scream accompanied by two gunshots.

“GO!” Olivia ordered and ESU busted into the house, another shot ringing through the air.

Rita felt like her heart was about to drop out of her chest. Today wasn’t supposed to be like this, neither of you were supposed to have been working. You were _supposed_ to be indulging in a lavish brunch, spending the afternoon curled up together sipping on rose reminding the other just how much you loved them. A set of tears was burning in her eyes, she didn’t even realize she was clutching onto Olivia’s forearm. Honestly, the other woman barely registered it, too invested in finding out which gunshots ended where and if she was going to have to put a member of her squad in the ground, busy blaming herself for letting you go alone in the first place.

A unanimous, although very shaky sigh of relief came from the two of them at the sight of one of the ESU guy’s helping you down the steps. Though things weren’t in the clear quite yet, your shirt was splattered with red, your hands practically covered in blood. 

Your eyes moved up, searching for your Captain, knowing you’d have to go over what went down, but your gaze locked with Rita’s instantly. She watched as you began to crumble entirely, a shudder running through your body, a tear streaming down your cheek. Olivia didn’t even realize she had pushed passed her and the barricade until she was watching you launch yourself into Rita’s arms.

“Oh my God…” Rita clutched you tightly to her, not a care in the world that she was ending up covered in blood in the process. “You’re okay…you’re okay..I’ve got you..” She whispered right against your ear, a hand securely against the back of your head while the other wrapped tightly around your waist. “I’ve got you..I love you..you’re okay…” She knew half of her repetitions were convincing herself rather than you, you were the cop, you were the one that dealt with situations like this on a more than ideal occasion. Her lips hit your forehead, holding steady there to reassure the both of you that you were okay. 

Over her shoulder your bleary eyes looked up, locking with Olivia’s and your heart jumped, the instinct to pull away from Rita in your bones. Not that it mattered, it was too late now. You felt Rita’s arms loosening as they pulled your shoulders back from her, examining you with concern dancing across her face.

“It’s not mine…” your voice shook heavily, “he..he just shot her..in the head I-“

“Shh!” Rita’s fingers cupped under your chin, effectively closing your mouth, “wait for your rep, you know better than that.” She stopped, kissing your forehead softly, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t chastise you right now. I’m just so fucking glad you’re alive.”

“Me too..” You whispered. Your shaking hands drew Rita’s attention lower, noticing a tear in your shirt smeared with red.

“You’re bleeding!” Her fingers swiftly untucked the blouse from your pants, pulling up the side to expose the top of your hip. You’d definitely been hit with something, though it looked minor. “Let’s get you checked out.” She wrapped a steady arm around you, leading you passed Benson to the EMT that was on sight.

“You okay?” Olivia’s soft voice broke into your thoughts as a paramedic stitched up your side.

“I will be..” you shuddered, “a bullet must’ve grazed me…”

“Okay.” She gave your shoulder a gentle squeeze, “I’ll have them rush ballistics and processing the scene, I’ll let you know as soon as I can if IAB needs to look into anything. We’ll have to swab your hands..”

“G.S.R I know.” You wiped away a stray tear that managed to sneak its way out, “and don’t talk to anyone until you do.” Liv gave you a tight smile, turning to Rita,

“Take care of her.” Rita nodded, squeezing at your hand to stop the shaking, watching Benson turn back to the ESU Captain. She honestly didn’t give a shit what procedures and protocols you were supposed to follow right now, she was just glad you were safe, and that you’d be okay. All she wanted was to get you back home, where you were supposed to be in the first place.

*  
Rita stood at the kitchen island, half empty glass of wine in front of her, a fresh one waiting for you once you were done in the shower. Her brain couldn’t stop replaying that afternoon, how completely and utterly terrified she was that she was about to lose you. That she hadn’t had enough time with you, there would never be enough time in the world for her to feel like she was ready to let you go. You were her absolute world and she knew she would fight with every inch of her being to keep you safe. Her attention was grabbed by movement at the edge of the hallway. 

You were back in the coveted stolen sweatshirt from that morning, soft pyjama shorts on your bottoms. You dropped a tied plastic bag on the bench by the door to take out with the garbage in the morning. You always felt a million times better after a hot shower after a day like today, feeling refreshed and less gross. The initial shock of the entire thing worn off a bit. It was always worse when IAB was up your asses about it, brass everywhere, rushing you to the hospital for the regular tests while everyone flitted around panicked reminding you not to speak until your delegate was there. It just made anxiety crawl through your skin even worse. You were ever thankful Benson had let you go home right away, and honestly, thankful Rita had been on scene, not having to make that phone call and replay the events all over again.

Wrapping your arms around her back you hugged her tightly, kissing the back of her shoulder, laying there for a moment, breathing away the horrible memories of the day. You kissed her head, gently untangling your arms as you took a sip of your wine. Her hand rubbed soothing circles on your lower back as you turned to her, your level and grim,

“I’m sorry about the shirt. Blood’s easy enough to get out..but brain matter’s a different story…” Rita did her best to swallow it down, but the choked cry escaped out of her lips, her body suddenly shaking. “Baby!” You cupped her face in your hands, bringing her gaze up to you, heart absolutely crushing at the redness in her eyes.

“I’m so sorry…”

“You’ve got _nothing_ to be sorry for. You agreed to come talk to him, it bought me the time I needed for Benson to get there and get set up.”

“And if I hadn’t argued the judge to lower his bail he never would’ve left his cell.”

“You were just doing your job. You had no idea he’d go and do something like this.” Your thumbs softly stroked at her cheeks, wiping away the tears, attempting to reassure her.

“I could’ve gotten there sooner, could’ve gotten inside the house..”

“Then I wouldn’t have been able to do my job.” You laid your lips on her forehead, pulling her to you, “‘cause I would’ve done everything in my power to keep _you_ safe, even if it meant sacrificing that little girl.”

“I—“

“No…my love listen to me, there were a million little things that could’ve been done differently today, _you’re not to blame_ for this. Carisi could’ve not called in sick, Liv could’ve come with me, I could’ve taken a uni, waited for back up when I realized something wasn’t right. We did everything we could considering the circumstances.” She welcomed your embrace, letting out a shuddering breath.

“You could’ve died today…”she sniffled, “and that was without a doubt the most horrifying thing I have ever had to live through. I really, really don’t know what I would do without you, I love you more than you’ll ever possibly be able to imagine.”

“I _can_ imagine…because it’s the exact same as how much I love you.” You pulled back softly, feeling Rita’s hand cupping your cheek. She brought her forehead to yours, 

“You _do not_ get to die on me. Understand?” Her voice shook, but you could hear the hint of her courtroom tone behind it.

“Understood.” 

You kissed her gently, letting her hold you as long as she needed to reassure herself that you weren’t going anywhere. She finally lifted away from you, grabbing a tissue to wipe her face before taking a sip of wine. You grasped her hand, interlocking your fingers while you grabbed your wine with the other hand.

“C’mon, let’s marathon some Simpsons and forget this bullshit ever happened.” You kissed her cheek, “but we’ve gotta find somwhere that’ll deliver breakfast this late, I’ve been thinking about pancakes all day.” Rita barked out a watery laugh at that,

“Pancakes? With everything going on you were seriously thinking about pancakes?” Dropping down onto the couch you pulled her to you, tugging a blanket around the two of you.

“I think it had a lot more to do with who I’d be sharing said pancakes with.” You kissed her shoulder, “love of my life. Who I plan on sharing plenty of pancakes with for _many_ , many years.” That warranted a soft giggle from the other woman, who leaned in to kiss you, a murmur of words against your lips.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”


End file.
